Oil Workers Missing As Vessel Explodes In Delta State

Oil Workers–Seafarers and project crew are said to be missing after an explosion onboard a Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening, February 2, and it was also learned that the unit belongs to Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL), which is based in the Delta state town of Escravos.

The explosion caused panic in the area, as workers at nearby oil facilities watched helplessly as the fire ravaged the facility.

At the time of filing this report, the number of workers killed or injured in the explosion was unknown.

The management of SEPCOL has reacted to the sad incident. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ikemefuna Okafor said in a statement;

“In RECEIVERSHIP hereby announce the unfortunate incident of a fire that engulfed our offshore facility, the FPSO Trinity Spirit located at the Ukpokiti Teminal, following an explosion during the early hours of Wednesday, February 2, 2022.”

“The cause of the explosion is currently being investigated and we are working with necessary parties to contain the situation.

“At this time there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were ten crew men on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritising investigations with respect to their safety and security.

“We appreciate the assistance provided us by the Clean Nigeria Associates, the Chevron team operating in the nearby Escravos facility and our community stakeholders as well as fishermen, who have been of tremendous assistance since the incident happened.

“We have duly notified all relevant authorities and we appeal to the members of the public to stay away from the area while our Crisis Management Team continue to monitor the situation and update all stakeholders with new information as the investigation evolves”

It is massive. Our men and other relevant personnel are there to rescue the situation pic.twitter.com/X5WVdN35Pc

— Olufemi of Warri (@oloye_olufemi) February 3, 2022